Craig Wighton admits he gave himself and Dunfermline Athletic the perfect pick-me-up with his dramatic late equaliser to snatch a 1-1 draw with Arbroath on Saturday.
The former Dundee and Hearts marksman had been absent from the previous week’s loss to Partick Thistle after being laid low by illness.
He has revealed he was left feeling ‘horrendous’ by the virus and only managed to fully train after his return on Thursday.
Still low on stamina, the 26-year-old summoned up enough energy to spring from the bench and inject some life into the Pars late on at Gayfield.
His 91st-minute equaliser and the point it earned on a sub-standard day for the Fifers was more than welcome after a difficult spell off the pitch for Wighton.
He said: “I had been feeling horrendous and I didn’t know how much I had in me, to be honest.
“But I felt fine when I came on and I’m delighted to be back. Hopefully I can get a good week’s training and be a bit more fit for the Ayr game [on Saturday].
“I came back on the Wednesday and did wee bit of the session, then I trained on Thursday and Friday as normal, and I felt fine.
‘Adrenaline gets you through’
“There were a few boys with it. [Assistant-manager] Dave Mackay had it as well, so it has been going around.
“There are loads of people outside football and in workplaces with it. I usually avoid these things but I do feel better now.
“Once you are on the pitch, adrenaline gets you through it. It was not until I was back in the dressing room that I did feel knackered!
“On the pitch I felt fine and with them getting a man sent off we had them pinned in a bit.
“There wasn’t loads of running, more getting yourself in the box and trying to get on the end of a cross or whatever. I felt okay.”
Manager James McPake confessed Dunfermline looked ‘flat’ throughout the 90 minutes at Gayfield.
On their previous visit 12 months ago, as a League One team, they had blown their hosts away in a 5-1 victory in the SPFL Trust Trophy.
On Saturday, things did not click into place the same way and another two injuries – Chris Hamilton (cheekbone) and Lewis McCann (hamstring) – further disrupted their attempts to find a rhythm.
Jay Bird’s opener for Arbroath in first-half injury-time was deserved and, although Owen Moffat hit the post for the Pars, the hosts looked the more likely to score the next goal.
But Bird was shown a second yellow card following an angry bust-up with team-mate Jermaine Hylton to reduce Arbroath to 10 men.
‘I’m delighted’
Joe Chalmers then picked out fellow replacement Wighton from a corner in the first minute of injury-time for the late leveller.
And the striker has admitted the Fifers had to content themselves with avoiding defeat as they maintained a four-point lead in fourth spot in the SPFL Championship.
He added: “I’m delighted to get the equaliser and to get a goal.
“The conditions were tough for both teams, it wasn’t the greatest game to be honest.
“But I think it was important to come away with something. It is a tough place to play and we go up the road with a point.
“We wanted to win, like we do every week, but it is important that when you are not quite at your best, you still get a point.
“On another day hopefully we score that equaliser earlier and give ourselves more time, but it wasn’t to be.”
